Nukes

Pakistan's Restraint Makes India Feel Itchy

By Douglas Waller/Washington

There's a glimmer of hope among aides to PRESIDENT CLINTON that the diplomatic and economic carrots they're offering may have bought them at least a week's delay before Pakistan decides whether or not to detonate a nuclear device. Pakistani officials have told the State Department that Prime Minister NAWAZ SHARIF will send a delegation to Washington at the end of May to discuss how India's nuclear tests two weeks ago have affected their security concerns. American officials believe it's unlikely Islamabad would explode its bomb before that meeting. Oddly, this restraint is making India nervous, as shown by New Delhi's bellicose statements about the power of its nuclear blasts and about Kashmir, the Himalayan region that's divided between the countries. The State Department suspects that India, uncomfortable with the condemnation it has received, is trying to goad Pakistan into conducting a test. "The Indians would like nothing better than to rid themselves of this uncomfortable isolation," says a senior U.S. official.

--By Douglas Waller/Washington

How To Make Friends

Microsoft Offers Tips to Agreeable Academics

By William Dowell/New York

Psst! Want to make an easy 200 bucks? If you are a university professor specializing in business, math or computer science and are about to present your research paper at an academic conference, Microsoft will slip you a check for $200 to cover "travel costs." All you have to do is mention how Microsoft programs helped you in your work. The offer is part of a promotional program called "The Academic Cooperative," which maintains its own website on the Internet (academicoop.isu.edu/Colleges/FacultySpeakers Program.html). The website, which runs on the University of Idaho's server, makes no overt mention of Microsoft, but the education-oriented promotional material for Microsoft makes the connection clear. While some scholars object--Sheldon Krimsky, a professor at Tufts University, who has been looking into corporate influence on scholarly journals, calls it "crass"--Microsoft contends that it is merely trying to be helpful. So far, only a handful of professors have taken the offer.

--By William Dowell/New York

Cover Date: June 1, 1998

• Red Face Over China
• The Main Event: "Browser" Bill Gates Vs. Joel "The Trustbuster" Klein
• They Call It Video Crack
• The Marrying Kind
• Notebook: How To Make Friends